Time For A Change
by Magdelena Sforza
Summary: Amy is sick of Sonic treating her badly! She needs a change of scenery, someone to treat her right. And she knows just who to go to.
1. Chapter 1

**Set after Sonic Heroes story line. First fic in years, please be gentle!**

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Ever since they returned, things hadn't been quite the same between Sonic and Amy. He seemed to be avoiding her more, if that's even possible. She was getting tired of all of it. She spent most of her time alone in her room, crying. She missed him. She missed the minuscule attention he gave her. Even being ridiculed was better than this. And that's how she felt today.

Amy sat up, and looked in the mirror. "Oh, I look awful!" she groaned, shoving her face closer to the mirror. Her hair was a mess, her eyes were bloodshot and her cheeks were red from all the crying. She sighed, putting her head in her hands. "I cannot keep going like this..." she murmured against them. She shook her head, and looked around her lilac room. Her recent moods meant she had neglected cleaning her house. She felt a strong vibration in her stomach. "Guess I've neglected that too" She looked back at the mirror, examining her reflection. Then it clicked. "I deserve so much better than a guy who makes me look at myself like this...you should find someone proper, nice, kind, smart...and I know just who!" She said out loud at her mirror. She stood up straight, put her hands on her hips, and frowned. "Amy, get it together! Tidy up, shower, eat and dress yourself!". She got to it right away, now with a purpose in mind.

Espio sat, eyes closed, head resting against his hand. He couldn't take his mind off of her. Ever since they had stopped Eggman, since before that even, Amy was the only thing he could think about. The way she kept her optimism, her enthusiasm, lively nature, the passion she held for love, even though it made him jealous to see her love someone who didn't care for her. He wanted to be the one she ran after, jumped on, hugged endlessly, he wanted to be her everything. He thought of how her bangs flopped against her eyes, how her hair flowed when she ran, the way her eyes lit up when she smiled, the strawberry smell that seemed to ooze from her...

"You're still thinking about her huh?" Charmy's sweet voice broke the barrier protecting his thoughts. "Hmm?" he opened one eye, holding his position. "He means Amy, we know what's on your mind Espio." Vector peeked over his magazine at his long time friend. Espio sighed, and rose from his chair. "I can't help it..." he murmured. "Why don't you ask her out?" Charmy whizzed around the room, making a buzz noise. Vector sighed and caught the little bee, and sat him on a chair. "He's actually right. It would at least get you out of the house, you've been brooding around here for far too long." "I doubt she'd agree, she's pretty hung up on Sonic." He sighed, imagining all the ways that he could make her happier than that cocky rodent. "Well it's better than sitting here complaining about it, and wishing you could be with her. Go on, what's the worse that could happen?" Charmy replied, attempting to wrestle out of Vectors grip. "I don't disagree- CHARMY, CALM DOWN OR I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL LOCK YOU IN THE CUPBOARD AGAIN!" Espio sighed once again. "Anything could be better than watching the worst baby sitting in the world" he thought, walking to his room as Charmy slipped fromVectors grasp once again.

Amy examined her wardrobe. "Hmm...maybe I should wear something a little different...". Digging down into the back of her wardrobe, she pulled out an old denim skirt "hmm, this is nice ". She slipped it on and twirled and somehow, couldn't help but think of Rouge. "Not bad" she smiled, proud of herself for once. She pulled out a black tank top and slid it over her head. She twirled and started to brush her pink locks. They'd gotten pretty long since their last adventure. She brushed them out, and slipped her bangs to the side, only to have them flick back into place. She shrugged. "Hmm, what's missing..." she examined herself, while slipping on a pair high white socks and red converse. "I know!" She remembered a few months ago, Cream had given her a cute white rose hair clip. She pulled her bangs to the side, and secured them with it. She smiled and nodded. She was ready to go.

Espio sighed as he left the house. This was going to be a long day. The air smelled of flowers and fresh cut grass. He smiled. The scents reminded him of Amy. He stopped paying attention to everything, he didn't even know where his feet were taking him. He pictured Amy, he could smell her, see her cute smile, feel her hair on his face, even hear her voice. "Espio! Wow, I didn't see you there!" He snapped back to reality to see emerald eyes staring into his. He had not prepared for this. He tried to speak, but he choked. Clearing his throat while blood rushed to his cheeks, he tried again. "Uh, hey Amy" He smiled. "Oh, it's been so long!" She squealed, flinging her arms around his neck. His heart stopped. He never thought he'd be lucky enough to be hugged by her. He let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding, and wrapped his own arms around her waist. "I know..." he managed to sigh. After what felt like hours, but still seemed too soon, he felt her grip loosen, and reluctantly, he drew his arms back to his sides. "So uh, what are you doing around here by yourself?" he asked, knowing the answer would be something Sonic related. It made him feel sick to think of it. "Well, I was at home and pretty bored and I wanted to know if you wanted to go get ice cream" she replied, smiling shyly. His breath caught. Was Amy asking him on a date...? "Uh, l-like a date...o-or something?" he stammered. She raised a crooked finger to her bottom lip. "Kind of, I guess", smiling again, making Espio's heart flutter.

He was going on a date with Amy Rose.

He was still in shock by the time they got to the ice cream parlour. He was seeing everything, the blue walls, the trays of ice cream in front of him, the waitress seating them, the menus, her taking their order, but all as if he were in auto-pilot. It was only when he realized Amy was talking that he snapped out of it. "Uh, yeah!" He replied, having missed what she said. She smiled, so it must have been a good guess, right? He looked around, the seating was u-shaped couch around a table. Lord knows why they got such a big space. The table had been painted to look like it was covered in sprinkles and had the occasional lollipop. The whole place had a smell of cream and milk. He realized Amy was probably wondering why he wasn't even acknowledging her. He looked up to see her smiling at him, knowing he hadn't meant to ignore her. He smiled, and opened his mouth to say something. But at that moment, the waitress arrived, and placed their bowls on the table.

Amy picked up a spoon, and licked her lips lightly as she looked at the strawberry ice cream, with cream ans sprinkles before her. It was her favourite. She Slipped her spoon in and placed a little in her mouth, closing her eyes to savour her first taste. She smiled a little, and opened her eyes to see Espio watching her. Her smile widened, flattered. She always thought Espio was cute, but she was always so focused on Sonic that his other qualities seemed invisible to her. She tried to read him. He seemed so nervous. He dug his spoon into his ice cream, and quickly put it in his mouth. She never expected him to be a fan of honeycomb. He seemed to be avoiding her gaze. Her smiled melted as she looked back to her ice cream. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe he hated her too. She felt her stomach knot as the all too familiar lump rose in her throat. Then she heard Espio clear his throat. "So, uh, I kind of figured you'd be hanging out with Sonic..." he murmured against his spoon. "Ehm, he's not exactly my biggest fan" she forced a giggle.

Espio had that moment. He knew he could complement her. Get the words out Espio... "Well, I don't see why not" he smirked seeing her cheeks go bright red. It's working! he thought excitedly. He decided to take advantage of her already nervous disposition, and reached across the table to her free hand with his own. She went an even brighter red, but squeezed his hand as she put another spoon of ice cream into her mouth, staring intently at the bowl.

This was going better than expected.


	2. Chapter 2

Espio smiled, thoroughly enjoying Amy's reaction. He squeezed her hand, smiling across the table at her. He was stuck for words. All he could do was sit there and think about how beautiful she looked. And he couldn't even work up the nerve to tell her. Knots coiled in his stomach, he wanted her to know what he was thinking. Why wouldn't the words come out? He swallowed hard, it was now or never. "So uhm..." he started. _You can do this! _"Youlookbeautfultoday" he blurted, realizing only after the speed. Thinking over it, he realized he didn't even say "beautiful", he said "beutful". He dug his spoon into his ice cream quickly, not noticing the drops melting from the bottom of his spoon, and quickly shoved it into his mouth. He tried to look at Amy without her noticing, hoping she didn't hear.

Amy couldn't say anything, her cheeks were hot, her hands were shaking and she couldn't even think about eating. So she sat poking her ice cream, pulling the courage to speak. But she couldn't. She was shocked. No one had ever said that to her. Ever. She felt as if she was dreaming. All she could do was whisper a shy "thank you", and wish he heard her. And by the looks of things, he hadn't. He seemed sad as he looked at his ice cream, some part of her wanted to hug him when he pouted like that. The other part of her wanted to kiss him to make it better.  
She found herself shocked at that thought. Since when had she wanted to _kiss_ him? That had never crossed her mind. But she smiled at the thought. She'd really like to. And she noticed the couch around this table connected at the inside. So people could sit next to each other... It was a bold move, but she was ready. She ignored the butterflies and took a deep breath. "You know, holding hands across the table is kinda hard...we could sit in there" she almost whispered, nodding towards the inside of the U shape. A blush rose up his cheeks, as he nodded, letting go of her hand, and grabbing his bowl as he slid along the seat to the inside. She let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding and did the same.

They still sat a little apart, both scared to make any kind of move. Espio took another breath and placed his hand on top of Amys, continuing eating his ice cream with the other. He felt her flinch, but then cling to his hand, as she too continued eating her ice cream. She stared at the milky pink remains in her bowl, placing her spoon down, and letting her gaze slip to Espio. He was still slipping small spoons of honeycomb into his mouth. It made him so much more aluring. She slid a little closer as he put the last spoonful in his mouth. He put his spoon in the bowl, and looked at Amy, meeting her gaze and feeling himself fall into her eyes. Their bodies were touching and he could almost feel the sizzle between them. He couldn't help but raise his hand to her cheek, stroking it gently with his thumb. She blushed, and wiggled closer, smiling shyly. He moved his hand delicately down to her chin, and raised it just a little, as he moved his lips to hers, kissing her softly.

Amy's heart felt as if it were about to burst from her chest. Her first kiss. She had always imagined it would be with Sonic, but this felt perfect. Just as it was meant to be. She squeezed his hand, hoping it would never end. He pulled away too soon, and she pouted against her will at this. She wanted it to last forever. She stared into his eyes, red rising up her cheeks, and that moment. The second and a third was all it took. She knew right then, this was the perfect moment, with the perfect person for her. This was what she deserved, needed, _craved_ all this time. Nothing could take her away from it. She knew she didn't love him. She knew it would take time for that, but she believed in it. She had a crush right now, but she hoped it could lead to a proper relationship. She smiled, her eyes stuck to his and hoped it would be like this for a long time.

Espio felt his heart pound. It was so perfect, she was so perfect. She deserved this kind of treatment. She deserved better than that rodent loser could ever give her. Her smile told him she was happy, he couldn't help the feeling of pride, happiness and most of all, genuine love for her. He knew this was the start of the best moments of his life. He smiled, kissing her cheek delicately. Nothing could ruin this moment.  
Or so he thought, until a certain blue hedgehog walked in, looking pretty miffed.


End file.
